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Story Highlights

Annual out-of-state tuition will drop from about $22,000 to only $12,400.

APSU out-of-state tuition will be less than half that of UT-Knoxville or MTSU.

Out-of-state tuition plus fees for 2019-20 will be estimated $13,895.

The latest change for Austin Peay State University now that it has its own Board of Trustees: Out-of-state tuition is being cut by nearly half.

For years, students living outside of Tennessee paid about $11,000 per semester, but a new rate approved by the board cuts that amount to just under $6,200 for 12 credit hours, according to an APSU news release.

Members of APSU's largest freshman class take a tour of campus in August.(Photo: Contributed/Denzil Wyatt, APSU)

“The majority of our students are from the Clarksville-Montgomery County area,” Gandy said. “It’s important for us to attract students from other states who bring different perspectives, culture and knowledge to our campus.”

Here's how APSU annual undergraduate out-of-state tuition and fees compared with other state universities in the 2017-18 school year, according to the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, from highest to lowest cost:

UT-Knoxville: $31,390

East Tennessee: $27,693

Middle Tennessee: $27,578

Tennessee Tech: $25,529

UT-Chattanooga: $24,782

Austin Peay: $24,221

University of Memphis: $21,413

Tennessee State: $21,132

UT-Martin: $14,687

For the 2019-20 year, that estimated tuition plus fees number for APSU will drop to $13,895, according to Bill Persinger, university spokesman.

In the fall of 2018, the university outpaced other Tennessee schools with a 4.7 percent enrollment increase, making it the fastest-growing public university in the state. That fall, APSU experienced a record enrollment with 10,954 students, and part of that growth came from a 23 percent increase in out-of-state students.

Gandy, seeing the value these out-of-state students bring, wants to attract more.

“In many cases, our tuition rates are now below what universities in other states offer their own residents,” he said. “And students who choose to come here will find a thriving campus with a more than 200-year history.”